U.S. Department of 

Transportation 

Office of the Secretary 

of Transportation 

September 5, 2014 

Mr. Pierre Murphy 

Law Offices of Pierre Murphy 

1200 New Hampshire Avenue, NW 

Suite 590 

Washington, DC 20036 

Re: Docket DOT-OST-2014-0145 

Ruling on Harris Aircraft Services, Inc. 

For Confidential Treatment of Information 

Dear Mr. Murphy: 

1200 New Jersey Avenue SE 

Washington DC 20590 

On August 25, 2014, Harris Aircraft Services, Inc. ("Harris Air"), filed an application in Docket 

DOT-OST-2014-0145 requesting that the Department find it fit to conduct operations as a U.S. 

certificated air carrier. In connection with this filing, Harris Air filed a motion for confidential 

treatment under 14 CFR 302.12 ("Rule 12") of our Procedural Regulations for certain 

information the company was providing. The purpose of this letter is to notify you of our ruling 

on that motion. 

In its motion, Harris Air requested that the Department withhold a bank statement indicating the 

amount of funds available to the company. Harris Air states in its motion that the financial 

information set forth in the document is confidential and not otherwise available to the public 

and that the disclosure of the details of such information is not required to further the public 

interest. 

Rule 12 instructs us to evaluate requests for confidential treatment by the standards of disclosure 

found in the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. section 552). Information may be withheld 

from disclosure under 5 U.S.C. § 552(b) (4) if it is (1) commercial or fmancial,(2) obtained from 

a person outside of government, and (3) privileged or confidential (Gulf and Western Industries, 

Inc. v. United States, 615 F.2d 527,529 (D.C. Cir.1979)). 

The information identified above clearly meets the first two requirements. The remammg 

question is whether the information is privileged or confidential, that is, "disclosure of the 

information is likely to have either of the following effects: (1) impair the Government's ability 

to obtain the necessary information; or (2) cause substantial harm to the competitive position of 

the person from whom the information was obtained." (National Parks and Conservation 

Association v. Morton, 498 F.2d 765, 770 (D.C. Cir. 1974)) Furthermore, to be privileged or 

confidential, the information must not be of the type that is usually released to the public. (Gulf 

and Western Industries, Inc. v. United States, 615 F.2d 527, 530)). 
After reviewing Harris Air's motion, we have decided to deny Harris Air's request for 

confidential treatment. It is not the Department's practice to withhold from public disclosure 

information which demonstrates an applicant's ability to meet our financial criteria. 

Under Rule 12, the Department's ruling on a motion for confidential treatment will not take 

effect if, within fi ve (5) business days after issuance, the person requesting confidential treatment 

files a petition for reconsideration of that decision, or files a statement that he or she in good 

faith intends to seek judicial review of the decision. If Harris Air elects to petition the 

Department as to this confidentiality determination, we expect that it will provide a statement 

explaining how the items fall within the exceptions under the Freedom of Information Act and is 

not otherwise required to be filed publicly by all applicants for certificates of public convenience 

and necessity. Responses shall be due within fi ve calendar days of the filing of such petition. 

If Harris Air elects not to file a petition, we direct that it file the document noted above in the 

public docket in this proceeding within five business days of the date of this letter. 

Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. If you have any questions, please feel free to 

contact Barbara Snoden at (202) 366-4834 or by email at Barbara.Snoden@dot.gov. 

Sincerely, 

Chief, Air Carrier Fitness Division 

Office of Aviation Analysis 

cc: Docket DOT-OST-2014-0145 

Mr. Brian N. Frederick 

POI for Harris Aircraft Services, Inc. 

Juneau Flight Standards District Office 

3032 Vintage Park Blvd. Suite 106 

Juneau, AK 9980 1 

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